Transcript
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Welcome to this episode of Uncle Dad Talks. I'm Uncle Daddy.
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With me as always is the ever so charismatic, the handsomest one of all,
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give it up for Mike Hampton, or just Mike as you all know. What's up Mike?
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The intros never get old. Thank you. Hello, hello. Thank you, Uncle Dad.
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They should never get old because I want you to feel hyped up every single time.
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Because you know what? You deserve to feel that way, Mike. Somebody has to know.
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And I just get old, so there we go.
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Older. Older, there you go, right. Plus, we have a very, very special episode as we usually do.
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Today we have two, arguably people that could be your brothers.
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I was looking at you guys, I was like, oh man, it's Mike's family here.
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Do yourself a favor and call. Also, Super Studs. So let me tell you,
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this is a stud fest today.
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Mike, go ahead and introduce our audience Our guests, and this is one of those
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episodes where Mike's going to take the keys, and I'm going to be coming in here and there.
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So, Mike, take those keys, and enter control over the Rising Energy Cups.
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Yes, thank you. And you just keep it easy over there, big guy.
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So, we've got, yeah, we've got, I'm excited to announce these guys.
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I really love the band that they play in, one of the bands that they play in,
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and we'll talk more about that.
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But two of the members of the band, Rising Appalachia, and we have David Brown and Duncan Wickle.
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Duncan I said your last name correct yes okay I was,
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singing in the mirror over and over hoping I'm saying it right but yeah so thank
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you guys for coming on I know the band has produced about what nine studio albums
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I think there's other like remix albums,
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you guys have toured all over the world,
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toured in some of the best venues in the US I would say like Red Rocks Preservation
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Hall in New Orleans and that's just with with Rising Appalachia.
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And I know you guys tour with other bands too. So welcome to the show, guys. Please say hello.
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Thank you. Thank you, Mike and Uncle Dad. It's a pleasure to be here. I miss you all.
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Yeah, thanks so much, guys. I'm really tickled to be on your podcast and to get to chat it up.
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And so you guys, just so the listeners can know, because we can see your beautiful
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faces, say your name so people can put the name to your voice.
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Sure. Well, I'm Duncan Wickle and I play fiddle and cello and do various other
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things in Rising Appalachia.
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And this voice belongs to me, David Brown.
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Yeah. And I think David wins. You guys listening can't see it,
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but he wins the award for best background out of all of us in our little windows
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here. I thought you were going to say best hat.
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Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's also wearing a Barbara Jack. Go figure.
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Yeah. David. So where are you at right now, David? That has that that beautiful backdrop?
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I am sitting at a friend's kitchen table in Basalt, Colorado.
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And this is more or less been not this house in particular, but this region
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in general has kind of been a second home to me for the past several years.
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And Duncan and I actually were just about a dozen miles up the road from here
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this winter and working on a project that I'm sure we'll get into.
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But yeah, this is really one of my favorite parts of the world outside of Asheville where I grew up.
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Right on and yeah and Duncan you look like you're you look like you're in a
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recording studio but I don't I don't know where where where is what's that red thing behind you?
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This is indeed some sound treatment that's behind me. I picked the corner of
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my house with the least amount of chaos.
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I'm currently moving to Nashville this week, so I'm a little upside down.
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But yeah, you're dead on. It's my currently turned upside down home recording studio.
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You know, for a second, I actually thought it was a classroom.
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I was like, oh, he's at a classroom.
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So you're going from Asheville to... for
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the kids that's right he's in
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the after-school class so you're going from ashville to nashville is
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that right well my wife actually just finished
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the program in connecticut so we've been living here
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we've been we've been moving a lot kind of since the pandemic which i think
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will continue into the future we're kind of just being nomadic nomadic couple
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of musicians yeah because y'all when when when when were you all in paris was
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that pre-pandemic or post-pandemic uh we can't we arrived here from overseas
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about a year and a half ago.
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We were there for about 10 months.
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That's right. Yeah. Y'all have really been covering some ground for sure.
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Yeah. Well, Asheville is such a beautiful place. So, so let's talk about that
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since we've, we've mentioned it several times here.
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So the band, so the, the band's brainchilds, Leah and Chloe are from Atlanta.
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How did, so how did you guys meet and all come together to, to form,
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to form the band or join the band, I should say. Who is?
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Well, it's a story with many layers, of course, like most good stories do have.
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I have a friend who I met in Asheville maybe about 20 years ago,
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this amazing musician by the name of Kalen Campbell, who I've got to credit
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for introducing me to both Leah and Chloe and to Duncan.
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He and I were in this bluegrass band right when I was finishing college. This was like 2005.
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The band was called The Greasy Beans. And Kalen was kind of like an older brother to me.
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I didn't grow up with any older brothers, but he introduced me to a lot of stuff,
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including old time music.
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And foraging for food and just kind of living this off-grid kind of semi-feral
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lifestyle, which was kind of something I was pretty passionate about there for a little while. all.
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And I guess it was within a year or two of becoming friends with him that he
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got out a CD and it was a burnt CD.
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And it just said Leah and Chloe Rising Appalachia on it. And he put it on and
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we were driving to this gig in Tennessee.
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And it was these two sisters, the two sisters of Rising Appalachia, the Founding Sisters.
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And I was just so smitten with the sound. I'd never heard an approach like theirs
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to the traditional Appalachian music that we're all so passionate about.
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And as the way things go, a few years went by and eventually I started to sort
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of run in the same circles as Leah and Chloe.
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And eventually they invited me to sit in for a few gigs, which turned into about,
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I think, 12 years now of playing together.
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And around the same time that I first met them, I was playing what's called
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a concert dance with this guy, Kalen, in Asheville.
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And Kalen, at the time, to me, was probably the best fiddler I'd ever heard
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of or had the chance to play with.
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And he said, I really want you to meet this teenager. His name's Duncan.
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He's 19, and he is so good. And I was like, wow, I've never heard...
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My favorite fiddler talk about another fiddler in such high esteem.
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And so within a few nights, Duncan and I were playing together and we just had a total blast.
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And that began our friendship. And maybe Duncan, maybe you can chime in with
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your side of it from there.
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Yeah. And long before I met David, I also knew Leah and Chloe independently
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of that from a series of summer workshops that would go on nearby,
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which I first attended when I was 11 in Swannanoa, called the Swannanoa Gathering,
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which, if you know, it's about 25 minutes outside of Asheville proper.
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And we kind of, we were, I'd say that we were acquainted.
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I was more of a sort of like scholarly nerd
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about fiddle music from the area
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and and from elsewhere and and they they were already kind of on to being the
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the excellent performing performance artists and stage crafters and just kind
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of mystical artists that that there are that they're known for now i mean i
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guess at the time they would have been teenagers as well,
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and and and then i would see them at the leaf festival which is also if you're
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if for any listeners familiar with the ashville area you'll probably know about
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that the leaf festivals and And it's like a legacy cultural thing in the area.
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I would see them there the following, like I would see Leah and Chloe pop up
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and be like, Oh, Hey, those are those girls from Swananoa.
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And every year at the leaf festival, their audiences would, it would grow and
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grow. They would, it would grow from.
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Them kind of doing tweener sets in the front of
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the main stage on on a little like muddy dance board
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but while the crew set up the next band they were kind of
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like yeah you guys can kind of play and pretty soon the
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the crowds gathering around them in the front became bigger
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than the crowds that were coming for the main acts
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and they started to really kind of dominate and headline leaf and become associated
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as their kind of child band of the leaf festival And I saw that growth happen
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gradually over a very slow amount of a period of probably 10 years or so.
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And I never in my life imagined that I would have such a close working and personal
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relationship with them.
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I wasn't running in that circle, but I was very adjacent to it.
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The actual music scene in the early 2000s was very small, and that's how we all knew of each other.
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Me and David knew each other independently of Lee and Chloe,
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and we all were pretty well acquainted,
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and it finally kind of all meshed together for us at the right time.
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David, I'd say, heavily lobbied, I don't know how he'd say it in his words, for me to be in the band.
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I think they were honestly a little skeptical at first. from my reputation or
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their association of me being a kind of conservative fiddle nerd, if you will.
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But eventually, we all won each other over, and I'm so glad that we did.
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I've been playing myself with them for about seven years now with everyone,
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and the relationship just deepens every year.
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Awesome. Amazing. It's like, uh, you're, you're, you're, they,
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they've broken you down to be less, the less conservative fiddle player they work to win.
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So how does that work though with, with you guys, with them,
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when you're, when you're making a song, do they come to you guys with,
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with the melody and lyrics and say, all right, now you guys write the music
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or is it something that's a collective?
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I'm sure there's different things for different songs, but what's like a it
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general give me an example of how you come up with a with a song together yeah
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i'm sure that process has changed a lot over the years and maybe david has more
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to say about how it's evolved.
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I i think what what i've noticed since my involvement is is that there really
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is this nucleus of leah and chloe working on a scene together and that's a that's a very,
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working on a song can it
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can be a very intimate thing and and
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so it has i i
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think often that's kind of often but how it happens
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but there can be a pretty large variety additionally to
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how things kind of unfold in natural ways i mean they they they can be inspired
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by like a groove that's going on from within the circle of the band when we're
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just like playing during a sound check or something leo will just like be walking
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around with a phone like oh play that again we'll just like improvising something.
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Totally. So at some point, somebody is going to go through all these voice memos
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on her phone and, you know, 20% of them are just going to be sheer gold,
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like the inception moments.
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And then some of them are going to be us just acting so strange,
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being like, what was happening at 3.44 p.m. in Santa Cruz?
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But yeah it's really run the quite quite a
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full spectrum of of the way songwriting has happened and and
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frankly i think the the pandemic and you
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know it's affected us in so many different ways but but i
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think one of them was that it it separated us like
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it created a lot of space between us for almost an
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entire year and so i think that really changed the way some of our songwriting
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looked what i would say would probably be my favorite way that we've come up
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with music is literally when we just get all of our instruments out for several
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days, and we're just in a space together.
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And we might have this agenda of like, okay, this is what we're going to work on now.
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But maybe when somebody's preparing a meal, a couple of the band members get
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out their instruments, and some interesting little musical conversations just
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kind of start happening.
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And then somebody's like, wait, what if I did this with that?
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And the next thing you know, there's a really beautiful song just kind of emerging between us.
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But it's also really fun to be on the side of things where Leah or Chloe,
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they usually do, they definitely write the lyrics to the songs that we do.
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And sometimes they'll just bring a song that's underway, but they're looking for our input in it.
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And it's really fun to just figure out ways that we can all contribute something to it.
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Yeah, that's great that it kind of becomes a communal effort You all can kind
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of have that openness to put something to it because sometimes it's not that way with a band, right?
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Like you're just, you're all sharing a dream job and basically have to be on
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the same page or willing to be enough on the same page.
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And I think it also relates to the kind of people that come and see all shows.
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It's the same kind of communal kindness, openness, and willingness to kind of
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work together, right? Yeah.
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And would you agree?
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Wholeheartedly, personally. Yeah. I mean, I think one of the interesting things
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about being a touring musician is that you play a lot of the same songs like many times in a row.
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And it's just such a gift to be able to kind of come up with your own part for
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it and have it feel true to oneself, as opposed to somebody just handing you
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a chord chart or something like that and just saying, play this.
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But you get to feel like your your soul is
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coming through it in a bigger way and i think
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that feels really good i'm curious is there ever a challenge with collaboration
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like do you ever feel like collaboration it can't be as easy as it should be
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there's definitely a lot of trust in this band and i'm really grateful for that
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i think that that's not something to be taken for granted Having worked in,
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me and David both worked in a lot of other bands,
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and anyone who's ever been in the band,
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or a marriage for that matter, or had a family, or traveled intensely,
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can basically imagine what that dynamic would be like if you had to do that full time.
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Time there's a lot of beautiful trust there's also
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a lot of negotiating that has to happen and
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that can take a lot of time and energy and sometimes you know of course you're
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like wow this is taking so much time and energy is it really you know is this
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is this is trying to push my idea forward really worth what what i'm putting into this,
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And usually, I mean, we've all been doing this a long time and we know each other pretty well.
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And I think we're all in the band, we're all pretty solid.
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We're surprised all of us fairly mature communicators, I think I could safely say.
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And it's special. it's special i think it's why i've i think it's a huge reason
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personally why i've been in this band as long as i have at this point as opposed
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to maybe some other ones i i didn't stay with as long.
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Yeah i think i think sometimes getting together to to make music with somebody
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is especially something new it can kind of feel like you know when when people
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at a zoo put two pandas together And they're just trying to,
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they're hoping that they're just going to make a baby happen or something,
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but it feels a little bit contrived.
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But thankfully we, we haven't encountered too much of that in, in our little project.
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Usually, you know, there's, there's plenty of creativity in the air,
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but I think we've both had those moments where it's like, wow.
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So I guess, I guess this is, this is what's supposed to happen right now.
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Yeah. None of us have seen any pandas more beautiful than, than us.
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All together oh there's some beautiful pandas i'll tell you so
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so yeah communication like i love what you said uh
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mature communicators because that's not
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everyone you know no matter how old of a panda
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you are is is going to be a great uh mature communicator
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so i know you know it's it's
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it's it's happening that the band is going to
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take a break a sabbatical and so how
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do you guys communicate how does that communication go like are you guys like
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well what are we going to do now we're in a band real quick you don't have to
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go too deep into it but like how does it how does how does that conversation
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kind of unfold and then refold into a lovely way for y'all.
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Well, yeah, I think, well, I think for me, you know, I'll speak for myself,
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of course, I'm the youngest member of the band.
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I think I was maybe of the party that was a little bit like,
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less ready to, to be like, Oh, yeah, let's take a break, you know,
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in the middle of things going really well.
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Because this band, we've been on the up and up, I think.
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It's really much by design.
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And it's kind of deliberate in the face of a lot of progress in recent years
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for the band, I think, in the career of the band.
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Which I think strikes a lot of people as odd.
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But there's a number of good reasons for it that I recognize and respect.
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In fact.
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We're taking a sabbatical from being on the road. We're working on a lot of
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projects and filling the coffers, to use an analogy that our leader, Leah,
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loves to use with new material that we're going to have on lock and ready.
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We're going to be ready to release an album by the end of the sabbatical.
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We've also just released an album which is a covers album that that came out last week,
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falcon anchor falcon anchor it's called
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there's some really beautiful songs in there there's everything from
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willie nelson to erica badu and hosier
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songs that are favorites of flea and chloe and favorites of the band so so we're
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really taking this time you know when you're on the road as much as we are it's
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hard to really give the attention that your material deserves,
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in this you know your your studio material in your your your compositional material,
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it's it's hard to to keep that stuff at at your your standard of quality that
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you want to with so much moving around and and logistical things happening all
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the time so i think we all see that this as an opportunity to really hone in
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on those things and we're.
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So we're working on that all the time together and got a lot of things to look out for on the horizon.
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Yeah, I would just chime in and add that, yeah, in terms of the decision to
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take a creative sabbatical this year,
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I personally, my first reaction was sort of like, wait, I felt like 2020 was
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one heck of a sabbatical for me.
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I didn't play any shows at all. Like, I've kind of had this attitude of just
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like, put me in, coach, you know, put me in, put me in, let's do this thing.
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I'm not getting any younger.
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But after that initial reaction, I just found myself reflecting a little bit
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on so many of the decisions that Lee and Chloe as leaders of the band have made
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that probably too, as Duncan hinted at,
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that too, like a lot of people, they might have said, why are you all doing that?
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That just doesn't make any sense in a conventional music career,
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say, to instead of, I don't know, shopping around record labels in Nashville or L.A.
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To to go study folk music in Bulgaria for the summer.
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Like little things like that when they were young women leading all the way
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to the way that we've toured over the years and the things that we've turned
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down. But they've all turned out.
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I mean, I can't think of any time that a decision that Leah or Chloe have made
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hasn't worked out really well for us.
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And so, although I had some initial resistance to the idea of like,
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kind of really slowing down, the more that I felt into it myself,
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remembered the trust that I have in their leadership, which is really special.
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And I think like Duncan is saying too, it's just really important to carve out
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the time to remember why we do what we do and hopefully come up with some new stuff too.
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Otherwise, we're just kind of like a...
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We risk maybe repeating ourselves and I don't think we want to be doing that too much.
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Yeah. Yeah. You want to have some new, new, new gems to kick, right.
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From, from when you guys play the next, the next new round of shows and,
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you know, just to set it more profoundly.
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Yeah. Right. I really need some fresh gems, but you know, and obviously they
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know, they know what they know, what they're doing.
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And you know, you guys, like you said, Duncan, you guys have been successful
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and you've continued to rise, no pun intended.
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But yeah, just as like a visual artist too, like I do tons of events and shows
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throughout the year and I fill my calendar up.
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And if I don't give my time, the actual space to work on new stuff,
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it's just going to be the same, the same things that I'm selling over and over.
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And at some point people will be like, dude, where's your new stuff?
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You know, I can't wait to hear it. And so while While that's happening,
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or something happened, and I think you guys, you know, I want to dive into the details of it.
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Not long ago, you guys, both of you, David and Duncan, are on some kind of retreat
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in Colorado, and you come up with the idea to come up with an acoustic album
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together while this kind of sabbatical thing is happening.
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Is that kind of the gist of the way it goes?
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Absolutely. Yeah, me and David, you know, our musical relationship started out primarily,
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you know, pre us being in Rising Appalachia together, playing Irish music and
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old time music together on banjo and fiddle and guitar. Right.
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And we were doing an event at the Bayul Retreat Center, which is run by some
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dear friends of ours near where David is right now, outside of Basalt.
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And we were doing a Rising Appalachia event there this winter.
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And we're kind of, you know, the sort of cliff of this determined sabbatical
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was starting to loom closer and closer.
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Closer and we were
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kind of we were we were sharing a cabin together me and
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david and david's espresso machine and we
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were sitting around for a lot of days and and
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one day we we were we were discussing a lot
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you know like what you know well how about all
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the all the uncertainty and everything we're kind of relating about
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that and and a certain point we just
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started playing some tunes the way that we
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used to going back to our roots together and
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you know just it it felt really
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good and it made a lot of sense to be doing
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that it was there was a comforting thing about it and and
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i think that that was the point that the
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the seed of the idea came together like you know this is a beautiful place where
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we are in this wooden cabin out here in the the total wilderness and just a
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snowy blanket of forests and mountains and streams and an espresso machine, I'll add. And we...
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And I think that was the beginning. That was the moment where we were like,
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well, we should make this an official thing.
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We should actually bring some proper equipment out here to this spot.
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There was some time where we were like, well, we should just do it in Asheville
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because it's just logistically it's going to make sense and it's going to be
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less expensive to us and everything.
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But we really felt like there was a magic in that place that we had to capture.
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Capture and and so it became pretty
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evident that that was what we should do yeah it
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was it was especially evident because like we we talked
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through the the concept you know like hey what
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if we just did this this year like we don't have much on the schedule and
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then the espresso machine just kind of gurgled in affirmation and
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i was like and we're like
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perhaps it's a sign i think think that's why
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duck and mentioned the espresso machine but it was
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certainly a well caffeinated moment of inspiration for
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sure so so wait let me get this
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right so you do an espresso machine came up with an idea to make an album in
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the cabin in colorado in the snow while everyone else is possibly some other
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stimulants than caffeine oh
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that's what i figured yeah well you know if you're You're in a safe space.
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I mean, hey, what are you going to do? You have to.
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So not only did you lug your espresso machine in there, so did you lug, so correct me if.
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Did you record it or did you just write the songs and rehearse them and you're
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going to record them in Asheville or is everything in the can ready to go?
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We are in the finishing stages of it, actually.
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Yeah, to backtrack a little bit, our band, we did a tour of Colorado back in
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February and it ended at this place that Duncan mentioned called the Bayou Retreat,
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which is this amazing old like
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hunter's lodge with a bunch of kind of satellite cabins
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around it and for several years now our whole band has
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been going there and hosting these like small intimate shows there and gatherings
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that include you know song workshops and all of our little spinoff side projects
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and around that time yeah we were drinking espresso and we were playing a lot
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of tunes and And we were, you know,
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everybody was kind of scheduled to leave within a few days.
380
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But we had this conversation and this inspiration. And a lot of people there
381
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were really, as soon as they heard about it, they were like,
382
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yeah, you should totally do this, including the folks, the friends of ours that run Bay Yule.
383
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And we started thinking about dates in which we could head back up there later in the winter.
384
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For me, it felt really important to do it in the winter just because I'm just
385
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a huge huge lover of powder and snow and just the peacefulness of that.
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And so we started to look at some dates together and think through the logistics
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of how we could get both of ourselves and all of our quite a few instruments
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back across the country to do it and what support we might need to ask for from other people.
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And it ultimately led to a Kickstarter
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campaign, which which we're really happy to say went very well.
391
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And so we got back up there, we recorded it, and now we're just in the stages
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of doing the sort of post-recording work.
393
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Duncan's spearheading the mixing of it, and...
394
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There's a lot of things that go into an album, especially when you're looking
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at making physical copies of it, like with vinyl and CDs and that kind of stuff.
396
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So we're working away on all that right now and trying not to have too tight
397
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of a time frame of when to expect it being out.
398
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But hopefully it'll be here in the next few months.
399
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You know, you guys, that's some sounds like some fun little side projects that,
400
00:29:00,428 --> 00:29:04,348
you know, I need to get involved with. but some of my fun side projects are
401
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alphabetizing my comic book collection.
402
00:29:06,268 --> 00:29:10,828
So you guys are way cooler than me, but yeah, I wanted to mention you guys,
403
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you had your, your, your Kickstarter that, that really surpassed its goal.
404
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And two things that the name of the album, we haven't mentioned yet is going
405
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to be the long, long branch sessions.
406
00:29:23,708 --> 00:29:27,348
One, why that name? And two, how does it feel?
407
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You know, and either one of you can take one of these, answer one of these on your own.
408
00:29:32,448 --> 00:29:37,568
How does it feel to know like that the fans just are like show that much support,
409
00:29:37,748 --> 00:29:41,008
you know, when you guys, could you imagine that you would have that much support
410
00:29:41,008 --> 00:29:43,588
from your fans? I guess I should say. Yeah.
411
00:29:44,468 --> 00:29:49,248
Well, I will say that it's, it's been incredibly,
412
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I don't know if humbling is the word for it, but, but it's inspired an incredible
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amount of almost a sense of indebtedness.
414
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A lot of the people, you know, I, I can see who the donors were.
415
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And a lot of these folks are strangers to me and a lot of whom are people that
416
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I know that decided to take part of their earnings, which just means so much to me personally.
417
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I had no idea that folks would just turn out the way that they did.
418
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I don't know if I'm expressing my gratitude in quite the right way,
419
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but I feel very indebted and really moved by it.
420
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It's one thing to be a part of a bigger project and have fans show up,
421
00:30:31,988 --> 00:30:34,068
but to go out on a limb a little bit,
422
00:30:34,848 --> 00:30:38,248
that might be a connecting phrase to the Long Branch idea,
423
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but to go out on a limb and just try something new and to feel support from
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dozens upon dozens of people for me has been really meaningful for me.
425
00:30:50,708 --> 00:30:55,068
I don't know about you, Duncan, what do you think? Yeah, I can only agree.
426
00:30:55,288 --> 00:31:00,708
I have so much gratitude. and as you said from the folks we don't know which
427
00:31:00,708 --> 00:31:05,148
is always a surprise when folks are coming out of the woodwork that you don't
428
00:31:05,148 --> 00:31:07,088
even know how they know of you.
429
00:31:08,048 --> 00:31:15,668
But also the friends and colleagues and fellow musicians that you know that
430
00:31:15,668 --> 00:31:20,328
they're working just as hard as you are to make a living doing this thing.
431
00:31:21,890 --> 00:31:29,110
Totally. Yeah, it makes me want to do it right, which is a really cool feeling. It's a really...
432
00:31:29,890 --> 00:31:33,450
As an artist, you do face a lot of...
433
00:31:34,410 --> 00:31:44,130
You do end up in situations where people are expressing a lot of gratitude and
434
00:31:44,130 --> 00:31:46,650
joy about what you're doing,
435
00:31:47,370 --> 00:31:51,530
and it's amazing work.
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00:31:51,890 --> 00:31:59,290
Sometimes it's difficult, but those moments always make it all worth it instantly.
437
00:32:00,310 --> 00:32:06,590
Yeah, I kind of think that if other people are taking you as an artist seriously
438
00:32:06,590 --> 00:32:13,810
or showing belief in what you're doing, it kind of forces us to do the same
439
00:32:13,810 --> 00:32:14,670
about ourselves. selves.
440
00:32:14,790 --> 00:32:19,890
And I don't know that I've never felt like, oh, wow, this actually is important
441
00:32:19,890 --> 00:32:23,390
until other people showed me in a sense that it was important to them.
442
00:32:23,790 --> 00:32:25,410
And that was really beautiful.
443
00:32:25,970 --> 00:32:28,990
I will say just a brief note about the name since you asked.
444
00:32:29,550 --> 00:32:33,610
So this retreat center that we've mentioned several times, Beul,
445
00:32:33,770 --> 00:32:38,690
it has several cabins on it that are probably about 100 years old.
446
00:32:38,690 --> 00:32:41,830
And the one that we were staying in
447
00:32:41,830 --> 00:32:44,890
when this fateful kind of jam session
448
00:32:44,890 --> 00:32:50,270
and conversation happened that that cabin was called long branch and so we just
449
00:32:50,270 --> 00:32:54,250
thought well if we just record an album up here at long branch with all of its
450
00:32:54,250 --> 00:33:00,830
old timbers and kind of slightly askew floors and all its old charm maybe we
451
00:33:00,830 --> 00:33:04,730
could just name it the long branch sessions it has a nice ring to it Yeah,
452
00:33:04,830 --> 00:33:10,570
it has a nice rustic vibe to it, which we felt like was appropriate for the
453
00:33:10,570 --> 00:33:13,810
aesthetic of this particular release that we're going for.
454
00:33:13,910 --> 00:33:20,950
And the whole experience for us that we wanted to make sure it came across to the listener also.
455
00:33:22,071 --> 00:33:25,751
That's awesome. I mean, yeah, I love that you guys were doing the retreat.
456
00:33:25,951 --> 00:33:30,051
And then here comes an album and an idea for a Kickstarter and everything.
457
00:33:30,611 --> 00:33:34,311
Uncle Dad, you and I need to go do a retreat together, it sounds like,
458
00:33:34,411 --> 00:33:38,851
so we can get our ass together, right? I was literally thinking the same thing.
459
00:33:38,931 --> 00:33:40,811
I was like, we've never done that. We've got to do that, man.
460
00:33:40,851 --> 00:33:45,291
We've got to do a retreat and reconfigure what we can do next.
461
00:33:45,471 --> 00:33:50,671
I also wanted to add really fast on what you guys were saying about your support from your audience.
462
00:33:51,591 --> 00:33:56,111
It's truly something special when you realize that there are other people out
463
00:33:56,111 --> 00:33:59,451
there who connect to this in a way that maybe you will never understand.
464
00:34:00,271 --> 00:34:05,491
They connect to it in a way because it makes them think of something specific or whatever.
465
00:34:05,491 --> 00:34:10,671
Right and that to me is like the best branch anybody can offer right is the
466
00:34:10,671 --> 00:34:15,711
can hold on to that because you know kind of like the name right you're you're
467
00:34:15,711 --> 00:34:22,091
giving them a branch to hold on to so i think it's very good do you guys beautifully said,
468
00:34:22,971 --> 00:34:27,331
he's been doing really he's been doing really great at at saying very heartfelt
469
00:34:27,331 --> 00:34:32,211
things and so i want to commend them for that on the show very good yeah but
470
00:34:32,211 --> 00:34:36,071
to you guys let me really Really quick ask, is there vocals?
471
00:34:36,271 --> 00:34:40,631
Are you guys doing vocals on this album, or is it just strictly acoustic,
472
00:34:41,131 --> 00:34:43,171
the instruments that you play?
473
00:34:44,091 --> 00:34:47,951
I think it's about... So we have, I think, nine songs in the can,
474
00:34:48,191 --> 00:34:52,431
give or take, and it stands at about half and half.
475
00:34:53,351 --> 00:35:00,631
It's a pretty equal balance of instrumental, fiddle, and banjo tunes from Appalachia
476
00:35:00,631 --> 00:35:02,431
and the British Isles and Ireland.
477
00:35:03,771 --> 00:35:13,211
And songs, the bulk of which, and I'm singing about half of those songs,
478
00:35:13,331 --> 00:35:15,671
David's singing about the other half of the song.
479
00:35:15,751 --> 00:35:18,131
I think it's basically two songs.
480
00:35:18,931 --> 00:35:23,051
I sing an original song of mine and a traditional song.
481
00:35:23,211 --> 00:35:27,611
David sings a really, really beautiful song that's a contemporary song.
482
00:35:27,951 --> 00:35:35,611
And also, maybe you want to talk about your songs, David. The two songs that
483
00:35:35,611 --> 00:35:42,751
David sings, I think, are very well fitted, knowing him as a person.
484
00:35:43,391 --> 00:35:48,631
And having said too much, I'll hand it over to you, David, about your thoughts.
485
00:35:48,771 --> 00:35:52,191
But yeah, I'm singing a couple songs. David's singing a couple songs.
486
00:35:53,192 --> 00:35:56,752
Well, I will say this. Duncan has one of my favorite voices.
487
00:35:57,132 --> 00:36:01,812
I mean, he's a beautiful singer. And to me, it was a real no-brainer to get
488
00:36:01,812 --> 00:36:04,672
him to sing on at least a couple of the things on it.
489
00:36:04,672 --> 00:36:08,972
And myself, I've always felt a lot more comfortable as an instrumental accompanist
490
00:36:08,972 --> 00:36:13,872
and as a DJ and all kinds of things, ways of playing music that don't involve
491
00:36:13,872 --> 00:36:15,352
me actually having to sing.
492
00:36:15,452 --> 00:36:20,152
So it was a little bit of a stretch for me.
493
00:36:20,252 --> 00:36:24,792
And I guess it was a bit of a part of that branching out process for me to harp
494
00:36:24,792 --> 00:36:26,712
on the metaphor a little bit more.
495
00:36:26,872 --> 00:36:29,272
But I'm really glad we did it.
496
00:36:29,752 --> 00:36:35,552
I mean, I'll be totally candid here. Like some of my favorite albums have a
497
00:36:35,552 --> 00:36:40,212
mix of, say, like instrumental guitar playing or other instruments.
498
00:36:40,352 --> 00:36:43,832
Then there's a few tracks on it. I'd love Duncan, your opinion on this.
499
00:36:43,992 --> 00:36:49,592
But like some of my favorite albums have some mix of both. And I usually just skip over the singing.
500
00:36:49,792 --> 00:36:53,192
Like I'll just skip those tracks because it just interests me less.
501
00:36:53,332 --> 00:36:59,132
But I thought to myself, you know, that's a really silly reason.
502
00:36:59,132 --> 00:37:02,752
And like, that's not the way that most people feel about music.
503
00:37:02,852 --> 00:37:07,292
And, and when I am really truthful with myself, there's actually some songs
504
00:37:07,292 --> 00:37:11,592
that are really meaningful to me that I think people would enjoy hearing.
505
00:37:11,652 --> 00:37:18,572
So I kind of just got over my little feeling about instrumental versus vocals
506
00:37:18,572 --> 00:37:20,052
and just kind of went for it.
507
00:37:20,132 --> 00:37:25,072
And I'm stoked to hear how they turn out when Duncan's done mixing them.
508
00:37:25,072 --> 00:37:30,952
Yeah, I have to say that I was really pleasantly delighted to...
509
00:37:32,028 --> 00:37:36,148
When I, when we arrived to do the retreat and, and I didn't know if,
510
00:37:36,228 --> 00:37:40,668
you know, what, what songs, I didn't know that, that, that, that one song wild
511
00:37:40,668 --> 00:37:44,348
rose in the mountain is one that David's saying. So we talked about recording.
512
00:37:44,508 --> 00:37:48,908
So there was one that was a for sure. And I didn't know if he was going to bring any others.
513
00:37:48,968 --> 00:37:55,128
And he arrived with some really beautiful candidates that were connected to
514
00:37:55,128 --> 00:37:58,948
his family and place and culture that I really appreciated that,
515
00:37:58,948 --> 00:38:05,828
but that he chose to approach it from that sort of true-to-his-heart kind of angle.
516
00:38:06,068 --> 00:38:10,868
So one of those made it on. I believe it's the Shaker melody, right, David?
517
00:38:11,148 --> 00:38:13,128
Yeah, it's an old Shape Note melody.
518
00:38:13,508 --> 00:38:18,928
Yeah, it's Shape Notes. Sorry, yeah. Yeah, which is, if anybody listening isn't
519
00:38:18,928 --> 00:38:20,188
familiar with Shape Note singing,
520
00:38:20,468 --> 00:38:25,708
it's a style of singing that really took hold on the East Coast,
521
00:38:25,708 --> 00:38:30,648
And I think in Appalachia in particular, in the 18th and 19th century,
522
00:38:30,868 --> 00:38:37,688
and it was a style of singing that was all oriented around shapes like triangles,
523
00:38:38,008 --> 00:38:42,648
diamonds, squares, and each shape kind of represented a tone to people.
524
00:38:42,648 --> 00:38:48,148
And so choirs would see these shapes written out on pages and they would sing these notes together.
525
00:38:48,308 --> 00:38:54,148
And it's some of the most haunting and powerful choral music I've ever heard
526
00:38:54,148 --> 00:38:57,768
in my life. They're one of these melodies.
527
00:38:58,448 --> 00:39:01,128
I'm trying to remember what the words of the original melody were.
528
00:39:01,468 --> 00:39:03,228
It's gosh, it's worth looking up.
529
00:39:03,368 --> 00:39:05,408
It's something to do with welcome,
530
00:39:05,528 --> 00:39:09,708
welcome every guest, welcome to our festival or something like that.
531
00:39:09,868 --> 00:39:13,788
Like somebody could do a pretty funny remix about it because it's all about
532
00:39:13,788 --> 00:39:19,788
a festival of sound. Anyways, more recently, somebody wrote new words to it
533
00:39:19,788 --> 00:39:24,328
that really have to do with a sense of connection to place. And...
534
00:39:25,744 --> 00:39:28,484
It, it's a really beautiful melody. Yeah. I'll just say that.
535
00:39:28,584 --> 00:39:32,804
And the words mean a lot to me as well. So I'm excited that we got to drag it
536
00:39:32,804 --> 00:39:37,144
down in that kind of in a, a personal take on that shapeness style.
537
00:39:38,124 --> 00:39:42,604
I love that you guys are singing, David. I've heard, I've heard you play,
538
00:39:42,724 --> 00:39:45,904
I've heard your DJ, but I never heard you sing.
539
00:39:46,064 --> 00:39:49,884
And so, but also if you guys have room and you need a hot 16,
540
00:39:50,024 --> 00:39:54,144
I'm happy to come and throw down a verse on a track for you guys and,
541
00:39:54,164 --> 00:39:56,064
you know, spit some flows you
542
00:39:56,064 --> 00:40:01,304
know on the remix and let me know and i'll fly i'll fly right over nice,
543
00:40:01,824 --> 00:40:04,824
you guys have to do it you have to do it well i
544
00:40:04,824 --> 00:40:12,864
i think it would be important we'll decide yeah well you're slicing a duet right
545
00:40:12,864 --> 00:40:17,324
now that will be this can be your audition oh okay are you ready mike i can
546
00:40:17,324 --> 00:40:23,684
do your i can be your hype man you gotta do your ad-lib that's what i would be i'd be the ad-lib guy.
547
00:40:24,544 --> 00:40:27,284
Hey i in the words of you 40 i don't i
548
00:40:27,284 --> 00:40:30,284
don't freestyle don't rap for free oh sorry see how
549
00:40:30,284 --> 00:40:33,824
i got out of that one man well okay
550
00:40:33,824 --> 00:40:36,644
so i know we're gonna we're gonna slowly start to wrap up
551
00:40:36,644 --> 00:40:40,324
here but so you guys are pressing records and
552
00:40:40,324 --> 00:40:43,244
so if people didn't you know
553
00:40:43,244 --> 00:40:45,884
contribute to the kickstarter is this something that you guys are
554
00:40:45,884 --> 00:40:49,024
gonna have available online for people to purchase or
555
00:40:49,024 --> 00:40:52,064
like are you guys gonna do a tour with just
556
00:40:52,064 --> 00:40:54,784
the two of y'all for this for this project like what's the
557
00:40:54,784 --> 00:40:57,904
once you're done and the album's ready is it
558
00:40:57,904 --> 00:41:02,224
going on spotify like what are all the details so that we can all hear it sure
559
00:41:02,224 --> 00:41:06,584
enough yeah so we'll be publishing it to pretty much all the platforms that
560
00:41:06,584 --> 00:41:11,244
people listen to music on these days in terms of you know via the internet at
561
00:41:11,244 --> 00:41:16,704
things like Spotify and Apple Music and Bandcamp and Tidal.
562
00:41:17,544 --> 00:41:22,824
And we are going to do a limited run of vinyl and probably a few CDs in there
563
00:41:22,824 --> 00:41:29,044
too for the diehard folks that still consume music that way or listen to it that way.
564
00:41:29,404 --> 00:41:34,264
And one of the, well, the very top tier of reward that we did for our Kickstarter
565
00:41:34,264 --> 00:41:39,704
campaign was a in-home sort of house concert with the two of us.
566
00:41:39,704 --> 00:41:44,924
And we actually have a nice spread of shows where people signed up for that.
567
00:41:45,064 --> 00:41:48,864
So I think hopefully pretty soon after we have our albums made,
568
00:41:49,024 --> 00:41:56,064
we will do some travel and maybe as soon as late summer or early fall to play some shows.
569
00:41:56,244 --> 00:41:59,424
And maybe we'll try to put a few more together in conjunction with that.
570
00:41:59,824 --> 00:42:08,104
And we'd love to sell the physical copies at those. And I would say beyond that,
571
00:42:08,224 --> 00:42:10,304
people should just reach out to us.
572
00:42:10,364 --> 00:42:14,584
And I think we could probably figure out a way to get an album in the mail or
573
00:42:14,584 --> 00:42:16,984
a CD in the mail for those that want one.
574
00:42:18,489 --> 00:42:22,709
Where would people reach out to you or give us, give us a couple,
575
00:42:22,789 --> 00:42:26,669
a couple, you know, you could do your website or your Instagram or what's the
576
00:42:26,669 --> 00:42:29,309
best way if someone's listening to get ahold of you guys?
577
00:42:29,869 --> 00:42:34,949
Yeah, sure. Well, I think, I think what we're both most well known for is,
578
00:42:34,969 --> 00:42:37,049
is our main band, Rise in Appalachia.
579
00:42:37,089 --> 00:42:41,349
And if anybody wanders over to say like the Rise in Appalachia Instagram or
580
00:42:41,349 --> 00:42:47,489
Facebook page, it should be pretty simple to find their way to Duncan or I's personal accounts.
581
00:42:47,489 --> 00:42:53,469
My handle on Instagram is Castanea Sounds, and not the easiest to spell.
582
00:42:54,369 --> 00:42:57,429
And Duncan's also got an intentionally misspelled one.
583
00:42:57,749 --> 00:43:02,029
It's, what is it, Duncan? My Instagram, it's America with a K,
584
00:43:02,089 --> 00:43:08,169
underscore runs with a Z, underscore on, underscore Duncan.
585
00:43:08,449 --> 00:43:13,069
D-U-N-C-A-N, which is how I spell my first name. America runs on Duncan. Awesome.
586
00:43:13,269 --> 00:43:16,669
It's going to be up there until I get a seasoned assessed letter.
587
00:43:17,609 --> 00:43:24,049
And in any case, you can also, I update my website as much as I can at duncanwickle.com.
588
00:43:24,229 --> 00:43:26,949
D-U-N-C-A-N-W-I-C-K-E-L.
589
00:43:28,229 --> 00:43:33,909
I would suggest that somebody search for David Brown on Google,
590
00:43:33,989 --> 00:43:36,209
but there's quite a few imposters out there.
591
00:43:38,029 --> 00:43:42,949
David, why don't you spell, would you please, because Castaneda is also your
592
00:43:42,949 --> 00:43:46,929
DJ name. And you want to spell that for our listeners just in case they're listening
593
00:43:46,929 --> 00:43:50,529
and they want to just type that in and go directly to you.
594
00:43:51,229 --> 00:43:58,889
Yeah, I would be so honored if anybody wanted to make a note of it. It is C-A-S-T-A-N-E-A.
595
00:43:59,489 --> 00:44:04,089
And then the second word is sounds. And Castanea is the word,
596
00:44:04,229 --> 00:44:11,149
the Latin genus for the chestnut tree, which is a really special tree to the people of Appalachia.
597
00:44:11,149 --> 00:44:15,629
And it's got a really amazing story behind it, which we might need to save for another podcast.
598
00:44:15,989 --> 00:44:21,269
But anyways, Castaneda with a C sounds, and that's a Gmail or on Instagram.
599
00:44:21,669 --> 00:44:27,369
Yeah. I love that both of your Instagrams not just relate to you,
600
00:44:27,569 --> 00:44:29,349
but they relate to where you're from.
601
00:44:29,589 --> 00:44:32,529
Yours from the chestnut trees of where you live. And Duncan,
602
00:44:32,629 --> 00:44:36,209
you were just in Connecticut where there's a million Dunkin' Donuts on every corner.
603
00:44:36,309 --> 00:44:38,849
So that's clearly why that happened. Am I right?
604
00:44:39,789 --> 00:44:44,709
Yeah. Yeah, I was born in the North. I consider myself a North Carolinian because
605
00:44:44,709 --> 00:44:48,429
I lived in Asheville from age six to about 18.
606
00:44:49,129 --> 00:44:52,029
Before I was six years old, I lived in the Northeast.
607
00:44:52,349 --> 00:44:58,749
And I was made fun of by the kids on my block who always called me Dunkin' Donuts.
608
00:44:58,769 --> 00:45:03,289
And I just remember when I moved to North Carolina when I was six, I never heard it.
609
00:45:03,329 --> 00:45:09,109
And I was so happy. And then the moment I moved to Boston in 2007 to go to college.
610
00:45:10,180 --> 00:45:13,440
I walked into a Dunkin' Donuts, and the first friend that I made was like,
611
00:45:13,540 --> 00:45:17,140
hey, it's a Dunkin' in the Dunkin' Donuts. And I was like, no, this shit again.
612
00:45:19,260 --> 00:45:22,900
It's like a bad Twilight episode. I'm moving to Nashville next week,
613
00:45:22,980 --> 00:45:24,320
so it's all going to be over.
614
00:45:24,880 --> 00:45:29,220
You know what, though? Dunkin' Donuts are just called Dunkin' now.
615
00:45:29,420 --> 00:45:34,020
Actually, did you know that? They dropped the donuts. We're supposed to take my name from Donut.
616
00:45:37,620 --> 00:45:42,680
People are so nice. So you guys are also, I know there's a few tour stops that
617
00:45:42,680 --> 00:45:46,320
you guys have left with Rising that are throughout the month of June.
618
00:45:46,840 --> 00:45:52,860
Listeners can go to risingupalachia.com and see what you guys are playing in Asheville.
619
00:45:52,900 --> 00:45:58,720
I know you guys are playing in Big Sur at Tree Bones, which is such a really cool place.
620
00:45:59,080 --> 00:46:00,900
So everyone, please go there.
621
00:46:01,640 --> 00:46:03,380
Uncle Dad, do you have any last questions?
622
00:46:04,360 --> 00:46:06,120
He always likes to do that to me. I'm going to throw this out there.
623
00:46:07,040 --> 00:46:10,600
Yeah. I'm going to throw this out there. Mike, you know I love throwing things out there.
624
00:46:11,280 --> 00:46:14,800
When you guys do some shows and you guys are out here on the West Coast and
625
00:46:14,800 --> 00:46:19,360
you guys need someone to give you guys the best intros ever, you let me know.
626
00:46:19,400 --> 00:46:22,920
I will do it for free. And see Uncle Dad.
627
00:46:24,200 --> 00:46:27,060
That's a great name. I'll bring you hype, man. No problem. I can get everybody
628
00:46:27,060 --> 00:46:30,280
ready to go. Just let me know because I would love to have the opportunity to
629
00:46:30,280 --> 00:46:32,000
introduce you on one show. If you want.
630
00:46:33,540 --> 00:46:38,740
We'll do it for free. We'll definitely take you up on that. Please do Mike I
631
00:46:38,740 --> 00:46:44,300
think we're good Yeah I just have one last question And it's very serious Does
632
00:46:44,300 --> 00:46:47,480
the espresso machine Make a guest appearance on the album,
633
00:46:48,540 --> 00:46:52,580
Just because you said that I will include a soundbite on the album There we
634
00:46:52,580 --> 00:46:59,980
go And not to be confused With an espresso machine Out of Dunkin Out of Dunkin
635
00:46:59,980 --> 00:47:03,420
Donuts I think that would be like A.
636
00:47:04,671 --> 00:47:09,171
That would be like the sound of like a fryer exploding or something. Yeah.
637
00:47:09,671 --> 00:47:11,931
We don't like, nobody likes that. No one wants to hear that.
638
00:47:12,031 --> 00:47:14,871
David, Duncan, uncle, dad. Thank you guys.
639
00:47:15,031 --> 00:47:18,811
We all, we're so happy to have you guys on and we're so happy to the success
640
00:47:18,811 --> 00:47:21,291
and the fan support that your album is coming out.
641
00:47:21,351 --> 00:47:26,951
Again, it's called the long branch sessions and we'll stay tuned.
642
00:47:27,011 --> 00:47:30,551
And, and we will also help promote it when it does come out.
643
00:47:30,611 --> 00:47:32,431
And thanks again for coming on guys.
644
00:47:33,111 --> 00:47:35,151
Appreciate you all. Thanks so much for your support.
645
00:47:36,371 --> 00:47:41,611
Thanks, guys. Absolutely. Mike, before we leave, you got to be the one that had us out. Come on now.
646
00:47:42,591 --> 00:47:46,411
That's right. And just to remember, we're not uncles, we're not dads,
647
00:47:46,531 --> 00:47:49,051
and we will see you all next week.
648
00:47:49,911 --> 00:47:52,471
God, and I totally screwed up that we're someone you can talk to.
649
00:47:52,651 --> 00:47:54,031
I was like, come on, dude.
650
00:47:55,131 --> 00:47:59,871
I guess I need an espresso. Jesus. Rewind. Mike, Mike, I can edit that part
651
00:47:59,871 --> 00:48:01,471
out. Do it again. Are you sure?
652
00:48:02,111 --> 00:48:05,651
Yeah, I'm going to do it. Okay. I mean, it's kind of funny. Like,
653
00:48:05,671 --> 00:48:08,491
we can't do it without you having you exit us out. Come on now.
654
00:48:08,811 --> 00:48:11,531
All right. We are not uncles. We are not dads.
655
00:48:11,951 --> 00:48:15,491
We are just someone that you can listen to, and we will see you all next week.
656
00:48:16,560 --> 00:48:42,939
Music.
